Are boat owners "clocking" their boats?

[Deleted User YDKXO]

I would rather buy a boat with 3,000 hours and a service history akin to the encyclopedia brittannica than a boat with 300 hours that has sat in the marina and been looked at by a mechanic bod once or twice on the basis 'well we dont go out that often, sod the service this year'.

Yeah but the reality of the market is that the 300hr boat is worth more than the 3000hr one

 

[Whitelighter]

Another reason why I'd rather buy the 3000 hour one.

I presume if you 'clock' the hours, you also have to 'lose' service history as well - otherwise your cunning deception will be discovered.

So then you get a low hours boat with out a service history, or one that looks very weak.

 

[Deleted User YDKXO]

Another reason why I'd rather buy the 3000 hour one.

I presume if you 'clock' the hours, you also have to 'lose' service history as well - otherwise your cunning deception will be discovered.

So then you get a low hours boat with out a service history, or one that looks very weak.

I dont know about anyone else but I've never managed to get a full service history with any of the secondhand boats I've bought, high hours or low hours. Youre lucky if you get a copy of the last service invoice. I base my judgement on how sound the engines are on as detailed and thorough inspection by a professional engineer. Anyway, its probably easier to forge a service history than clock the engines

 

[z1ppy]

before we bought the current boat we looked at one which has 155 hours on a 2002 boat. Engine bay was spotless and there was almost full service history... we didnt buy the boat for a number of reasons but speaking to the broker later he said that there was someone interested in the boat, got to survey stage the prospective purchaser was looking at the service history and pulled out of the deal as there was a period of 12 engine running hours that were not documented!

guess it takes all kinds!!

 

[crazy4557]

I have to say I'm not sure I'd pay a whole lot of attention to the hours run on a boat. It's one of those mechanical objects where you buy based on what you see.

An engine doesn't have a given number of hours in it before t gives up the ghost. A daily used commercial boat will perform thousands of hours before components need changing which might require replacement after only a few hundred hours in an older less used pleasure boat.

As I'm always quoted for saying, buy on condition.

Henry

I see you've just sold a 175k mile 911 of 04 vintage so you certainly stand by your word on the condition!
A mate of mine once worked for a large finance company who changed cars at 50k, he was bored of his at 27k so had it clocked forward to 50k and got a brand new one...I don't mind buying a car/boat under those circumstances

 

[Spi D]

I'm in the market as a buyer these days.

I sold my last boat with a full history, documented, and an ECU readout.

Regarding boats for sale, one must remember that more engines die from neglect that from wear. Those not used die first.
A marine engine (as all other mechanics) is designed to do work - and will suffer if not allowed to do it..

Proper use calls for proper service (no surprise!).

Claiming extremely low hours therefore is giving the buyer arguments for assessing a higher risc and consequently offer a lower price.

 

[gravygraham]

Our boat which we had from new and sold in July had 130hrs.

 

[Greg2]

Yeah but the reality of the market is that the 300hr boat is worth more than the 3000hr one

Not sure I agree with this. As others have said low engine hours isn't a selling point, with the possible exception of novice buyers who naively compare it with miles on a car. I am currently a buyer (again) and having looked at a lot of boats engine hours isn't what influences asking prices (accepting that asking prices can differ from what a boat actually goes for).

 

[Spi D]

No boat is better than the maintenance it has received.

More use and/or years calls for more service. Sheer logic, that the more maintenance it needs, the more risc of flaws.

Apart from engine hours I'd consider age of gear and equipment. Stuff and things have developed over the last decades.

 

[Assassin]

I don't think any realistic buyer would be stupid enough to buy on engine hours alone, let alone a boat with excessively low hours, as with so few hours the engine would be expected to be in poor condition. Any engine needs regular running and servicing, consider the basics, engine/transmission oil needs circulating, oil needs to be hot enough, or at working temperature to disperse water/contaminants.
In addition seals, impellors, and various packings need working to stop shafts sagging and causing leaks, flat spots from occuring, and impellor blades or vanes from cecoming compressed and holding their shape.

If an engine has high working hours we could reasonably assume it has prevented any of the aforementioned, and potentially numerous other problems from occuring.

 

[dragoon]

I don't really expect to get a definitive answer to this question, (I’m not that silly) but I find it very hard to believe that a boat that is 20 years old has done 150 hours! That equates to 7.5hours per year.
The boat in I’m specifically referring to is a 42’ fly bridge and I have to say this is not uncommon. There are loads of boats out there that have done single figure hours per year. I really find this very hard to believe that these so called “low hours” are correct.
I know many boat don’t get used a lot, but c’mon, 7.5 hours a year!?

I'd ignore the hours. If anything more hours (to a point) is better than less. I think you'll have to look hard to find a recreational pleasure craft where the hours have worn the engine out - typically they fail due to under usage, lack of maintenance and corrosion.

When I bought Dragoon, it was 20 years old with 500 hours. However, it had been standing for a couple of years when I got it, and the mechanical hour meters had actually seized up.

As others say, I'd buy on condition.

Cheers,
Paul

 

[Chris_d]

I'd ignore the hours. If anything more hours (to a point) is better than less. I think you'll have to look hard to find a recreational pleasure craft where the hours have worn the engine out - typically they fail due to under usage, lack of maintenance and corrosion.

When I bought Dragoon, it was 20 years old with 500 hours. However, it had been standing for a couple of years when I got it, and the mechanical hour meters had actually seized up.

As others say, I'd buy on condition.

Cheers,
Paul

But you could still get caught out, how do know the immacculate 10-20 year old boat with a couple of thousand hours isn't some clocked 100hourer with only a single service in 10 years and rotton internals all about to expire due to lack of use

 

[imac8]

As a newbie I was adament I wanted a low engine hours boat because I compared it to mileage on a car. I then looked at quite a few boats with low engine hours and noticed that majority of them were in fact in poor condition, whether it be the owner never used it and therefore didnt maintain it properly who knows.

I chose my boat purely on condition and had average engine hours for its age. My surveyor mentioned the hour reader with Volvo Pentas are notorious for not always displaying and some replace them so although advertised as low hours, it might not be the case.

 

[Sandyman]

Surely not. Honourable respectable pillar of the community MoBo owners clocking their engines !!! I refuse to believe it